All posts tagged Timothy Geithner

The White House is expected to make it official tomorrow: Elizabeth Warren will be named a “special

adviser” to the president in regard to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Depending on your point of view this is either cause for celebration or another discouraging compromise from an administration that likes to pick fights and then back down, as Thursday’s Writing on the Wall column,Sidelining Liz, opines:

“Being named a “special adviser” to this all-important new agency carries a big burden—it means someone else will make the final decisions.”

That “someone” now appears to be Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner for two reasons. First, Mr. Geithner under the financial reform bill has key decision-making power as the bureau is formed. Second, Ms. Warren’s appointment as adviser is being structured to allow the top job at the new agency to remain vacant – a move that avoids political battles on Capitol Hill and gives Ms. Warren more influence, people familiar with the situation say.

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Global investment banks got a second-quarter revenue boost from a surge in Asian stock trading. But given China’s market volatility and stock declines in some other countries, those revenue gains may be hard to replicate.